Tuesday July 19, 2011 at 3:15pm
Sticky Sussex clay at round 6 of the British Clubman Sidecar Championship led to more than one motor going bang and clutches burning out! This unfortunately applied to the current series leaders, Neil and Michael Franks, who after a storming win in race 1 were forced to retire on the penultimate lap in the second calling a halt to their day! With the other teams close to them in the table also suffering problems they still are leading the championship and amazingly only dropping two points to Dave Goddard and Scott Cooper in second place.
The smooth well run meeting, hosted by the Twickenham &DMCC, at Stammerham Farm, Rusper included the Frank Mundy Memorial Cup and the SEMX meaning that out of the 32 sidecars who lined up for the first race 8 were not in the Clubman’s Championship but added to some good racing despite the harsh conditions.
Race 1 saw Franks/Franks take the holeshot and pull away leaving non-clubman Jack Etheridge/Ryan Humphrey chasing. The timing showing that these two were definitely the fastest with Etheridge/Humphrey claiming the fastest lap with 2:09.414 but Franks/Franks less than a second slower! Behind Seemond Stephens/Simon Rogers were leading Scott Basillie/Neal Bann, Jon Pannell/Rob Eastman, Paul Pelling/Chris Pannell and Scott Williams/Mike Curnow. Pelling/Pannell moved their way through into fourth and eventually took over second spot but it wasn’t long before Etheridge/Humphrey repaid the compliment but not for long as their clutch gave up gifting second back to Pelling/Pannell. The gap back to Stephens/Rogers in third had grown but also had the one back to Rob Oldfield/Gary Kinge, Brett Wilkinson/Ross Parmenter and Stephen Parr/Jonnie Waters who couldn’t overhaul the Cornish duo. As far as the Clubman were concerned it was a win for the Franks brothers who showed the others, including teams in the top ten of the Maxxis British Championship, the way with Stephens/Rogers and Parr/Waters in second and third.
Oldfield/Kinge got away from the start of race 2 in the lead with everyone close behind them going into the first corner. The track conditions by then were pretty gloopy after some heavy rain during the break and the lap times showing how difficult things had become with Oldfield/Kinge posting the fastest lap but 17.5 secs slower than the quickest team in race 1! Pelling/Pannell were clinging onto Oldfield/Kinge with Martin Guilford/Rob Batten, the first clubmen, a little way behind. Stephens/Rogers moved up to fourth place after passing Franks/Franks with Nick Bowers/Pete Batt following in sixth. Goddard with Ian Shepherd in the chair for the injured Scott Cooper started dead last but soon began to carve their way through the pack to make amends & by the chequered flag had got themselves up into fifteenth on the track but nineth clubman. The conditions were leading to changes in positions as outfits got stuck allowing others to move up or lose places as they tried to get round the stricken machines. Out front Oldfield/Kinge kept Pelling/Pannell at bay for some time until they had to relinquish the lead and settle for second. Stephens/Rogers got the better of Guilford/Batten who then had problems dropping them down the order to finally finish in twelfth and sixth clubman team. By the end of the race the top four were non clubman as Wilkinson/Parmenter and Etheridge/Humphrey claimed third and fourth leaving Stephens/Rogers as top clubman, which was no mean feat as Seemond had been unwell all day, in fifth. Franks/Franks, who had been up with Stephens/Rogers, and Guilford/|Batten before their incident, became another victim when they were then forced to retire with a blown engine on the penultimate lap.
Parr/Waters obviously decided to take advantage of the extra points on offer with no Franks Brothers or Stephens/Rogers for race 3 by claiming the holeshot. They had Pelling/Pannell, Oldfield/Kinge, Bowers/Batt and Etheridge/Humphrey in their wake but managed to hold them off for the first 3 laps. The conditions had improved since race 2 with the lap times coming down but not quite to the level of the first race but once again Etheridge/Humphrey posted the fastest lap albeit 7.5 secs shy of their first. Etheridge/Humphrey moved up into third on lap 3 but on the next lap had laid claim to the lead and began to pull away. Parr/Waters were still in second spot when Pelling/Pannell, who had been right on their sandrail, went missing and came round in seventh. Wilkinson/Parmenter were now in third with Oldfield/Kinge a little way back and behind them the second placed clubman Bowers/Batt in fifth. Parr/Waters were the next outfit to go missing as Wilkinson/Parmenter came round right behind Etheridge/Humphrey. Parr/Waters weren’t so lucky as Pelling/Pannell, who were now in fifth, as they had ground to a halt with engine problems! This left maximum clubman points going to Bowers/Batt with Mark Banks/Darren Bishop and Luke Peters/Sam Harris taking second and third clubmen places.
The first Clubman on the day went to Banks/Bishop and with Pelling/Pannell crossing the line in fifth giving them the overall on the day and winning the SEMX and Frank Mundy trophies. The sidecar competitors would like to thank Guy and Mark Williams of Centristore for their generosity with prize money down to 15th and tyres for the top five overall teams on the day.
With round 7 at Rhayadar cancelled it’s a now long wait now for the next and final round of the British Clubman Sidecar Championship which tales place at Wrangway on 4th September but with 75 points up for grabs it’s still all to race for!
Overall results for SEMX & Frank Mundy:
1st Paul Pelling/Chris Pannell
2nd Rob Oldfield/Gary Kinge
3rd Brett Wilkinson/Ross Parmenter
4th Jack Etheridge/Ryan Humphrey
5th Mark Banks/Darren Bishop
6th Seemond Stephens/Simon Rogers
Report and photos Ann Reynolds